


Pepper’s Little Helper

by Magali (sane_people_scare_me)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Tony is a dad, Tony is a snarky yet tired dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-07-14 16:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16044014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sane_people_scare_me/pseuds/Magali
Summary: Pepper Potts was tired and overworked. Now more than ever, especially after the NY attack. So, she decides to get an assistant. Who, after meeting Peter again, promptly steals Tony's Protege. Tony's annoyed and Peter's in love.Pepper loves her boys.





	1. Chapter 1

Pepper Potts was tired. Being Tony Stark's, well, anything, was difficult. She loved him, absolutely, but he made her so, so tired. Her feet constantly ached from her heels, though she still refused to wear flats. She was short, dammit! Makeup didn't hide her now very prominent bags under her eyes anymore, and she felt dead.

Yeah, it was one of those weeks. She'd had approximately eight hours of sleep all week, and pulled two all-nighters. Half of her was bitter. She was only the CEO, yet it seemed like she had more work than Tony! Yet, she still knew he had more work, just in a different form. Pepper sighed and brought her mug up to drink, but her eyes widened and she sputtered out a curse and she set the cup down harshly and began to clean the mess she had made. Her lips stung, and were now and irritated red. She huffed. Great going, Potts. She heard a laugh behind her, and she groaned and slammed her head onto the bar's surface.

"Well good morning to you too, Pep. What's got you all bothered?" Tony laughed, sliding into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of coffee as well. Black, as always. Pepper's lips puckered, a sour, tired look replacing her annoyed one from moments ago.

"I think I've got my hands too full sometimes, Tony. I might need to get an assistant soon. Heh," She laughed dryly, and she could see Tony's face morph into a small, concerned frown.

"We could always look for a helper Pep if you think it's getting to be too much lately. Just don't overwork yourself. I'll look for one after breakfast." Tony suggested, microwaving an Eggo breakfast sandwich. Pepper sagged in relief, but she quickly straightened afterward.

"No, I can do that! Actually, I think right now is a good enough time to go search. Love you, Tone!" Pepper yipped, pecking Tony quickly on the cheek before scampering off to her office. She loved and trusted Tony, with her entire heart, but she knew if she let Tony pick out her assistant she would get a bodyguard instead of a helper really. So she sat down at her desk, turned on her monitor, and drank from her coffee quietly.

"To craigslist it is, then," Pepper muttered, setting down her mug and typing in her preferences. She scrolled through the applicants, but the first and second page was full of disappointments. Pepper sighed and pulled her hair up into a Ponytail. She was about to click off the site when she realized there was a very last page, and it couldn't hurt to look.

A single application showed up, with a picture of a young boy, no older than a first-year college student. He was tan, His eyes were a mahogany brown, and his hair was a dirty blond-ish type of color. Intrigued, Pepper decided to check out his file. His name was Giovanni Romano, he was 19, and he was in the second year at Fordham University. He wanted a job, part time or full, working in an office like environment. Attached to his profile, was a link to his email(running_round_leaving_scars@gmail.com), so Pepper decided to contact him, just to see how he was.

'Hello, Giovanni. I saw your profile on a site and was wondering if you'd like to be my assistant at Stark Industries. Of course, you might be the lowest on the food chain. If you do not mind this, please contact me so we could discuss your schedule. I know how hard college is and I would feel terrible if you were to miss a class because of a work schedule that could easily be modified.

Thank you,

Pepper Potts.'

Content with her short letter, Pepper sent it to the boy and quickly hopped out of her chair and into the living room, where she had left her files. Spotting the folder on the counter, where she had left them. She scooped them up, left them in her office, and sauntered into her bedroom, where she could hear ACDC blasting along with the sound of the shower. She shook her head, a fond smile on her lips. Pepper opened her dresser, picked out her skirt and blouse and the like, and quickly got dressed. She had just slipped on her black heels over her tights when the door to the bathroom opened.

"Aw, heading down already?" Tony pouted, a towel wrapped around his waist. Pepper smiled at him but continued out of the room.

"Unlike you, Tony, I have business to attend to, like an adult." Pepper teased, walking down the hall swiftly. She smiled when she heard his offended squawk. He squeaked for he to wait for him, which she complied to, of course. She wasn't to mean, and besides, she wanted to see him squirm as she set the music in the elevator to classical, and not Black Sabbath.

"Jeez Pep, why are you so mean today?" Tony whined, stepping into the elevator with her. She glanced at him, and a coy smile slipped onto her face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She teased, smiling innocently at her lover.

They were halfway through the elevator ride when her phone rung, signifying that someone had emailed her. She looked away from him to check who had emailed, and upon realizing it was her assistant choice she shushed him and read the message quietly.

'Dear Ms.Potts,

Hello! I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I'd love to be your assistant. I thank you for your concern about my education, and I'm very grateful for your offer of assembling a schedule that will work for the both of us. I truly believe this will be quite entertaining.

With care,

Giovanni Romano.'

"Oh, yes!" Pepper squealed, her eyes shining. Tony stood beside her, very out of the loop. Pepper answered back right away, and Tony finally realized that if he wanted answers, he would have to pry them from her.

"So who is it," Tony asked, looking over her shoulder to read her reply. She was asking him to meet her at the 'Book Nook Cafe', at 12 for brunch so they could discuss his hours.

Pepper jumped slightly, not expecting Tony to be breathing down her neck, but she still smiled brightly at him.

"I just got myself an assistant." Pepper gloated, crossing her arms smugly. Ha! Tony could eat dirt if he thought she wasn't able to hire someone. Hell, she had done it multiple times. Tony smiled at her, beaming with something akin to pride until his brow furrowed in concern.

"Wait, who is this dude again? Give me his name, schooling records, anything. I'll have to find out this guy's entire history." Tony said, motioning for Pepper's phone. She scoffed at him, one eyebrow raised. Tony sighed, but a pout replaced his worried grimace.

"I'm gonna find out one way or another, you know," Tony said, sulking like a child. Pepper smiled sweetly- to sweetly to be genuine- at him.

"Oh hun, I've been working for you for the past eight years or so. I know." She teased, pinching his stubbly cheek. He pulled away, fake-glaring at her, but the look melted away when Pepper pecked his cheek with a cute little kiss.

The elevator doors opened, and they both sauntered out, greeted with the sight of rows upon rows of desks, all full of busy people, typing furiously away at their keyboards.

"Alright. I'll go meet with him, you can meet him tomorrow on his first shift. I left some papers you need to review and sign off on your desk yesterday, and then you have a meeting at two, okay?" Pepper said, going through her purple planner, checking things off of her list as she talked. Tony nodded, an annoyed look on his face.

"Already? Oh, I thought I escaped the meetings this month," The man sulked, but he didn't linger for too long on the thought. Pepper smiled at him and pecked his cheek once more before waltzing away, answering questions people fired at her with no hesitance or stutter.

Tony watched after her for a few minutes, even after she had walked down the hallway to confer with a few people before she left.

Oh boy, that man was thunderstruck in love.

And Tony was absolutely fine with it.

Pepper had arrived at Book Nook Cafe and was escorted to a nice booth seat against the wall, which had been turned into a wall bookshelf. The place looked like a fairy hideout, really. With navy blue leather booth seats and the tables a cute mahogany brown with the patterns of old cut up wood, and fairies were carved in as well. It had dim lighting from lanterns on the ceiling, and only two windows, which were also decorated with fairies and the like.

Pepper had only been waiting for a few minutes when in scampered in a boy she had only seen online, from a picture. Giovanni was wearing blocky black glasses over his doe eyes, a baggy burgundy Fordham University hoodie, light blue converse, and white jeans. On his shoulder was a black book satchel, and he carried a law book in his hands.

"Giovanni, over here," Pepper said, waving at the boy. He noticed her and quickly scampered over, sitting down softly on the leather seat. He shrugged off his satchel and gently put his law book down on the table. A woman with a bright cheery smile came over, wearing a magenta dress with a white frilly trimming and glitter all over her cheeks and plastic gems on her hands.

"Hello! What would you two like today, mam?" She asked, flipping open a fairy-wing shaped order book.

"Yes, I'd like a Strawberry banana smoothie, and a sausage and cheese breakfast sandwich, and he'd like," Pepper said, looking over to Giovanni, who squeaked, but answered none the less.

"Erm, I'll have three chocolate pancakes and chocolate milk with whipped cream, please," Giovanni said, a nervous smile flicking his lips as he tried to make eye-contact with the kind woman.

"Alright, You'll food will be out in a few." She said, the smile never leaving her face, though it had been softened a bit.

"So, Giovanni, what hours do you think will work for you?" Pepper asked, holding her head up with her chin.

"Um, I have a class at 9-10AM, another at 3-4PM, and the last one is at 8-9PM. Prime hours are 6-8AM, 10-2PM, and 5-7PM. Eleven hours, actually." Giovanni shrugged, smiling softly at Pepper. She grinned at him in return, grateful that the schedule worked out so well. Their food had arrived, and she had eaten her entire sandwich while Giovanni only at a pancake and a half.

"That's perfect, Gio. Now, I'll have you come in at 6, and you can leave for your classes in between, and at seven you clock out, alright?" Pepper asked, her smile widening when Giovanni's head bobbed affirmative.

"Great! However, you do have to meet my boss so he knows who you are and stuff, alright? We can go right now, actually, before his meeting." Pepper said, checking her watch. It was only 11 AM.

"T-Tony? Un, yeah sure. Might as well get introductions out of the way." Giovanni sighed, an airy chuckle escaping him. Pepper giggled and paid, leaving a generous tip. Happy was called, and they were at Avengers Tower in eight minutes.

Pepper checked him in through security, got him onto the elevator, and asked JARVIS to send them up to Tony's lab.

The elevator doors opened, and Giovanni stopped mid-explanation on the 13 amendments.

"Giovanni?" Pepper asked, startled. Giovanni's eyes had widened in surprise, and Pepper didn't know why until she spotted Peter.

Peter had sensed them and turned around, mid-conversation with Tony, and promptly choked.

"Gio?" He gasped, tilting his head sideways.

"Hey, Peter. Didn't know you'd be here." Giovanni smiled, giving a nervous hand wave. Peter laughed and ran up to the small boy, side hugging him.

"Okay I'm totally lost someone please explain who he is and why he's here?" Tony grumbled, looking at Pepper. However, Peter was the one that answered him.

"Giovanni's a friend from high school. He's a year younger, but in the same grade as me." Peter explained, laughing when Giovanni's face went red.

"And he's my new assistant," Pepper added, getting a squeal from Peter.

"Oh, yay! Here that Gio! We'll get to work together!" Peter yelled, spinning the smaller boy. Peter had gotten taller from his high school days and was now two inches taller than Giovanni, who had stayed at his 5'3 form.

"Wait, hold on, I've yet to approve him-" Tony started, but stopped when Pepper glared at him.

"No Tony. I've decided already. Giovanni is my assistant now. From 6 to 7." Pepper said, causing Tony and Peter to stop.

"Wait a minute, I thought he was in college." Tony.

"Wait, I thought you were in college." Peter.

"I- I am! It's just, I'll go to classes in between working. In total, I'm working 5-6 hours. A regular work day." Giovanni stuttered, holding up his law book and pointing at his Fordham hoodie.

"Oh, good for you bud! I didn't know you were studying Law!" Peter said, punching Gio's shoulder playfully, but quickly apologizing and fretting over the boy's health when he winced.

"Oh jeez man I'm sorry. I punched you to hard didn't I-" Peter worried, hugging the boy dramatically. Pepper and Tony watched the two, stunned at how different Peter was. Still an awkward dork, obviously, but louder and more concerned with Giovanni's health everytime he made a joke.

It was especially hilarious when Peter told a joke that made Giovanni laugh so hard the boy dug into his satchel for his inhaler, which caused Peter to apologize more than necessary and perform multiple tests on the boy, just to make sure he was coherent.

Peter was now fiddling with a little robot, that resembled a ladybug, with Giovanni leaning into him, occasionally looking up from his textbook to hand Peter something he asked for. Pepper wanted to just laugh at the two. In the search for an assistant, she had stolen Tony's protege and gotten Peter a good friend.

"I feel bad for Cuba," Giovanni said, leaning his chin on Peter's shoulder, now watching the older boy work on his robot.

"Oh yeah, why's that," Peter asked, glancing at Gio with a small smile on his face. Giovanni's lips were pursed, and his eyes were sad.

"Because they have all of these great ballet programs and medical programs, but their history is full of broken promises and dead relatives. I get that they're getting better, but nothing will change if we don't help them out either. So far Russia seems to be the only one with their head screwed on right when it comes to Cuba." Giovanni ranted, huffing. Peter saw how upset Giovanni was, and side-hugged him again.

Pepper and Tony were on the other side of the lab, Tony staring at the two boys and Pepper typing away on her laptop next to him. Tony took a huge gulp from his scotch, finishing it, actually, and huffed.

"What's your problem now, Tony," Pepper said, rolling her eyes at her lover. Honestly, he was such a child. Tony pouted and took her laptop from her, despite her protests, and googled 'Giovanni Romano'. Multiple people came up, but Tony managed to narrow the search down when he found Fordham's alumni list. Giovanni's school records showed up, which promptly made Tony and Pepper's mouths to drop in shock. Giovanni hadn't skipped just sixth grade, he skipped seventh as well! Which meant Giovanni was only nineteen, and that Peter didn't know this.

Smug, Tony waltzed over to the two boys, who were once again working in silent concentration.

"Hey, Gio, I've got a question for ya," Tony said casually, leaning onto the table, in front of the boy. Giovanni's eyes widened, and he shut his book.

"Um, yeah?" He asked, tilting his head in question. Tony smiled at him with his sweet smile, which was so fake it hurt Giovanni to even look at the man.

"Why didn't you tell Lil' Petey here that you skipped one grade when you skipped two?" Tony said. Peter faltered and looked at Giovanni for confirmation.

"Is he right?" Peter muttered, causing Gio to stutter.

"Y-yeah, he is. I skipped the sixth and s-seventh grades. But I never lied about my birthday. You just never caught on that it was two years instead of one. You were born in 1997, and you automatically assumed my birthday was 1998. Even though I-I always said 1999." Giovanni explained, causing Peter to laugh. Tony, however, never got an answer.

"Woah hold on their buddy, you never answered my question," Tony said, staring at the boy expectantly

"That's an easy answer, Mr.Stark. See, if people knew I was basically still a teen, no one would take me seriously. So, lying was the best option for my reputation," Giovanni explained, grinning at the older man. Tony hummed. He was right. Being a kid would make everyone sneer at him if he even said anything.

    "Fair enough kid." Tony laughed, straightening and walking back to Pepper, who smirked at him.

    "Yeah yeah, you were right blah blah. Let's just enjoy the quiet while it lasts." Tony grumbled, sitting back down in his chair and designing thinner web shooters for Peter.

The group had worked in silence for quite a while before Peter decided he was hungry and dragged them all out into the living area. Pete and Gio were now chatting as Peter ate his huge sandwich, and Giovanni was nursing a small cup of hot chocolate, to ease Peter's worries.

"Hey, how long 'till your next class?" Peter asked, which made Giovanni stutter slightly.

U-um, It starts at three, and it's only twelve, so we're good." The teen laughed, taking a swig from his mug. Peter took a bite of his food as well.

    "So, what are you studying?" Giovanni asked the older boy, tilting his head in question. Peter hummed and swallowed what was in his mouth before answering.

    "I'm taking online courses at Columbia University, so I've actually never walked into a college classroom." Peter laughed, but promptly choked on his spit, causing Gio to snort loudly and giggle, which in turn sent both of them into a fit of giggles.

"Erm, I've never actually snorted that loud before," Giggled Giovanni, which made Peter choke once again and start laughing.

"Well, this is quite amusing, to say the least," At the new voice, Giovanni stiffened, causing Peter to stop laughing and looked over, where Clint, Natasha, and Steve stood, amused as Tony and Pepper continued to snicker at them.

Giovanni promptly had an asthma attack and passed out.

-


	2. Yeet Yeet Tony gonna get his ass beat beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof memes galore and more

Peter scrambled to catch Giovanni, and he started wheezing when he realized Giovanni was gasping for air but was still unconscious. Peter lunged for the boy's satchel, and rummaged through the expensive textbooks and the boy's laptop and finally found a magenta inhaler, at the very bottom.

"Hey, hey, Gio. Wake up bud, c'mon. I need you to use your inhaler for a bit, okay?" Peter soothed, shaking the boy in an attempt to wake him up, he groaned and shifted, but didn't open his eyes. Peter sighed and gripped Giovanni's jaw tightly, before prying it open. He placed the inhaler at the entrance of the boy's mouth and pressed the button at the top of the device.

"Okay Gio, hold it in for a bit, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Now, exhale," Peter coached, his eyebrows dipping when a tear escaped the boy's eye. He shifted Giovanni so that he was sitting on his lap, and he repeated the process of making the boy inhale and exhale the medicine slowly until Giovanni could finally breathe and only a few tremors here and there were left.

"Jeez kid, sorry for scaring you so badly," Clint said, his face concerned, they had all huddled around them, but were far away enough to let Gio gather his bearings.

"No, no. It's uh, my fault. I'm j-jumpy, that's all." Gio laughed, a grimace setting in his face. His lower lip quivered and he reached out for the inhaler again, which Peter gave to him softly. After inhaling deeply, Giovanni finally looked at Peter and smiled gently.

"By the way, I'm supposed to inhale for five seconds, hold it for eight and exhale for ten seconds, and do that three times. You switched it around, that's why it wasn't working very well." Giovanni said, grinning widely at the - now - sheepish boy.

"Oh, sorry. I'll try better next time, I guess. But I sure as hell did a better job than you," Peter teased, socking the boy's shoulder again, which Giovanni just laughed at.

"I'm sorry for the mess, I'm horrible at first impressions. I'm Giovanni Romano, Nice to meet you." Giovanni introduced, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

"Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Clint Barton, She's Natasha Romanoff, and spangle's over there is Steve Rogers. Respectively, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Cap." Clint introduced, using Tony's nickname for Steve just to get that good ol' Cap Glare™.

"Not to be rude or anything, but, you know, why are you here?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms and standing with her hip jutted out as she stared at him, her gaze daring him to try and lie to her.

"Ah, I'm Ms.Potts' new assistant, mam," Giovanni said, smiling weakly at the woman. Nat smiled, liking how nervous the kid was.

"Wait, so you're Pepper's assistant? I thought Pepper was an assistant?" Steve asked, seemingly genuinely confused. Peter laughed, and Pepper finally stepped in to explain.

" I'm CEO now, Well, the work's been piling up ever since the attack, so I decided I needed help for the smaller things while I handled the bigger paperwork, so I hired this Lil' muffin," Pepper said, walking over to Giovanni and hugging him from behind, laughing when Peter pouted and Giovanni squeaked.

"Oh, okay," Clint shrugged and jumped onto the couch, startling Tony. Said billionaire glared at him, but Clint just gave him a cheeky grin and turned on the Xbox. He loaded up Overwatch, and Peter scrambled over to watch him play Hanzo. Clint was a level ninety, and every day he went up at least ten levels, which Peter was still bitter about.

Giovanni laughed, but gathered his things and sat himself down next to Peter, and Proceeded to turn on his computer.

-

Peter had been watching Clint play Hanzo for about an hour before he glanced over at what Giovanni was playing, and he couldn't stop himself from choking on his water.

"Gio, why are you playing Doki Doki Literature Club!" Peter yelled, getting everyone else's attention. Giovanni pouted and stuck his tongue out at the older boy.

"Because I'm in America and in America, I can play whatever the hell I want as long as it harms no one and it involves no child porn or sex trafficking," Giovanni said, smirking when Peter deadpanned.

"But your just a bagel! That game's scawy!" Peter yelped, purposely wrongly pronouncing "scary" just to get a rise out of the younger boy.

Sadly, it didn't work.

"Sorry bug boy, but I've seen worse," Gio laughed, causing Peter to stiffen. Giovanni had called him bug boy, and he had never told him about Spiderman.

"Oh c'mon Peter, you think I didn't notice you web something from across the damn room, with a weird bracelet on your wrist? Gimme some credit bro." Gio laughed. causing Peter to stiffen. Giovanni had called him bug boy, and he had never told him about Spiderman.

"Oh c'mon Peter, you think I didn't notice you web something from across the damn room, with a weird bracelet on your wrist? Gimme some credit bro." Gio laughed, causing Peter to wince. He thought he had been pretty sneaky!

"Oh, fine. I'll admit, that was pretty dumb of me. Sorry for not telling you sooner, Gee." Peter said, smiling weakly at the boy. Giovanni rolled his eyes but giggled again. He continued playing his game before answering.

"Nah, it's chill. It wasn't like I needed to know you were Spiderman anyway. What was I going to do with that information? Write a trashy tabloid?" Giovanni snickered, causing Peter to laugh. He jumped when Clint whooped and realized the man had gotten player of the game, once again.

"Hey, wanna play Cuphead?" Clint asked, chucking a controller at Giovanni, who squeaked but surprisingly caught it. Peter laughed and sat closer to the boy, sure that Giovanni hadn't even touched a console before.

"Uh, sure." Gee croaked, signing in with his Xbox live account. Peter deadpanned. Of course, he'd played video games before! Why was he hoping the boy hadn't?

Giovanni had decided he wanted to be mug-man, and Clint happily picked Cuphead. Giovanni easily made his way through the tutorial, and Clint decided to be nice and started the game over again.

"Okay, so there's a rhythm for every boss fight, you just have to find it-" Clint said, but Giovanni cut him off.

"I've gotta jump three times, double jump to parry the worm, and blast the potato when he's not spitting mud. Onion is blast early on, dodge tears and shoot occasionally, and carrot is to destroy his flying carrots, deflect his hypnosis, and blast him when it's safe." Giovanni said, beating the potato and onion pretty fast. Clint had only one life left, while Giovanni had all four intact. Giovanni had to keep Parrying Clint to keep him in game, and Clint was seething about it.

Giovanni beat it first try. Clint was dizzy with irritation. It had taken him three days to beat that damn level, and Giovanni just came waltzing in, and beat it first try, without even saying anything! Natasha was snickering at him, Steve just read his book looking faintly amused, and Tony was now teasing him. Pepper just rolled her eyes at their childishness.

Giovanni and Peter were now curled up in a ball, watching Youtube and muffling giggles occasionally. Giovanni was practically sitting in Peter's lap, and Peter had his arm wrapped around the younger boys waist. Giovanni had opened his mouth to say something but had just squeaked and scrambled to get up, confusing Peter greatly.

"I-it's 2:50! There's no way I'll make it in time for the class to start!" Giovanni yelped, shutting his laptop and shoveling everything into his satchel. Peter untangled himself from the blanket on the floor and scrambled after the boy, who was looking for his phone. Peter found it on the couch and walked over to the frenzied boy.

"Hey, calm down Gio. I'll drive you down. It'll only take a few minutes, plus I bet you being late by three minutes won't be too much of a disadvantage." Peter reassured, trying to calm the now-sniffling boy.

"Ugh, fine. But if your a slow driver I swear I'm going to strangle you," Giovanni threatened, wiping his eyes with his hoodie sleeve. Peter laughed and took his satchel from him, before jiggling keys in front of the boy, teasingly. Giovanni snarled, yanking the keys out of Peters' hands and storming off into the elevator. Grinning, Peter turned around to face the very amused Avengers.

"I like him when he's angry," Peter sighed, a dopey grin on his face. Giovanni growled again from the elevator, which got Peter moving.

"JARVIS, Garage floor, please," Peter asked, getting a response from the AI. Instead of buttons, there were music options, and Giovanni had quickly decided he wanted to listen to the Jackson Five's "I Want you Back". As a young boy's voice filled the elevator, Peter hugged the twitchy boy to get him to calm down.

"Hey, calm down, you'll be fine," Peter soothed, his voice muffled by the fact that his face was in the crook of Gio's neck. Gee sighed, but loosened his stiff posture and leaned his head backward.

"Sorry," Giovanni said, closing his eyes. Peter just smiled at him and leaned against the wall.

The song had ended right as the elevator doors opened, and Peter grinned as he walked over to a midnight purple SUV. Giovanni rolled his eyes at the sight of it.

"Really, Parker? A purple SUV?" Giovanni drawled, climbing into the passenger seat. Peter grinned at him, cheekily this time.

¨Her name is Elma, for your information." Peter said his grin widening. He turned the ignition on, groaning when the engine purred.

"Oh, listen to her speak," Peter groaned, caressing the steering wheel dramatically, prompting Giovanni to giggle. Peter's smile grew more found, and he began to back out of the parking space.

-

"Thanks, Peter! I'll see you in a few," Giovanni waved, running through the campus as the dark purple SUV grew smaller, along with Peter. The boy ran, weaving through pupils that just finished another class, and by the time he had yanked open the door to his sociologically class, he couldn't breathe. His teacher Miss Callaway, raised an eyebrow as she continued giving her lecture on youth cultures.

"So, let's go into the topic of social media. It's something even baby boomers criticize, even though they are also one of the biggest users of said platforms. We use it for multiple things, information, connections, entertainment. However, some people believe it has taken something from us; empathy. Studies have shown that children now have less empathy than past generations, though I doubt it has anything to do with technology and actually has more to do with the evolutionary process.." She continued, as Giovanni waddled his way to the top row and sat down, next to his friend, Adam. Adam's blue-eyed gaze traveled to him, and his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Hey, are you okay, Gee?" Adam whispered, getting a soft wheeze and a thumbs up from the boy, which made him snort. Giovanni shook his inhaler roughly, and inhaled deeply, exhaling with a deep sigh and shoving his inhaler back into his satchel. Adam scribbled a note on the corner of his paper.

'Hey, U look tired. Email u the notes? Just put your head down man.' Giovanni gave him a weak smile, and promptly let his head slam onto the desk.

-

"Hey Gee, wakey. C'mon man, before prof. notices you've been asleep for the entire period." Adam hissed, roughly shoving the groggy boy's shoulder. Giovanni yawned but did as the older boy said and got up.

"Yeah, yeah okay. I've gotta call up my ride," Giovanni mumbled. He reached into his back pocket and quickly dialed Peter, who answered on the first ring.

"Desperate much?" Gee sighed, rubbing his eyes as Peter laughed, the noise echoed softly over the line.

"It's my middle name, baby boy," Peter growled, sending Gio into a fit of giggles. Adam ruffled his hair and left, waving softly at the boy, who grinned at him.

"Okay, Mr.Smooth, Let's agree to never call me baby boy again." Giovanni laughed, gathering his things and exiting the classroom. Peter hissed, but complied.

"How thou hurt me so, dearest. But also I hated myself for calling you that so agreed," Peter rambled, causing Gee to snort. He waved at his teacher as he exited, and he continued on his way out to the courtyard.

"You're picking me up, right? 'Cause I don't wanna walk." Gee whined, Peter, laughing over the line.

"Yeah, whatever you need, princess. I'm only two blocks away, hold your horses." Peter laughed, the line rumbling as he took a turn, and a car honking echoed over to Gio's speaker.

"Well excuse me for being tired, and wanting to get back to my job," Giovanni yawned, Sitting on a bench, and shuffling through his backpack to find his headphones. He plugged them in, put his phone into his satchel, and used the microphone on his earbuds to continue the conversation so he could comfortably bring his knees to his chest.

"Kay, I'm rolling up now," Peter said, which got Gio to move. He had just been listening to the rumble of Peter's car for a few minutes. He hung up and made his way over to the Purple SUV.

"Hey, Pete." Gee drawled, hopping onto the passenger's seat and leaning his head onto the black leather seat headrest.

"I'm getting the feeling you slept through the entire thing," Peter said, glancing at him as he drove. Gio nodded at him, his lips turning upwards into a soft smile.

"You'd be right then, good sir." Gee laughed, closing his eyes. He fell asleep quickly after that.

Peter sighed, and slammed his head onto the steering wheel, the car now in its parking space in Stark's underground garage. Giovanni was still asleep, and Peter couldn't get the stupid crush he had on the boy out of his head.

"Jesus, what are you doin' to me, Gio," He groaned, turning the car off and getting out so he could carry Giovanni back to the main private floor.

"'Kay Gee, I need you to stay still for a few, okay?" Peter whispered, shifting the boy so he could carry him. He tucked his arm under the crook of his legs, and his other hand supported the boy's body from his upper back. Peter coaxed the boy into wrapping his arms around his neck, and he set his satchel in Giovanni's lap, where it wouldn't fall or make trouble for him. He kicked the car door closed, wincing when it hit too hard, and walked toward the elevator. 

 

Surprisingly, Giovanni was pretty light, and Peter didn't know if Gio was light or Peter was really strong, thanks to Steve's workout regimen and his powers.

Peter called up to Jarvis, who gladly opened the elevator doors for him, and he waddled into the elevator, Giovanni shifting slightly as Tony's music blared through the speakers.

"Hey, Jarvis, could you turn the music down a bit? Gio's sleeping and I don't want to bother him," Peter asked, smiling when Jarvis gladly did so.

"Master Peter, shall I add Mr.Romano to the commands list?" Jarvis asked, breaking Peter out of his thoughts.

"Er, yeah. Just so you can help him around and stuff," Peter says, smiling at the ceiling. Jarvis always was a sort of comfort to him, even after he had opened up to his pseudo-family.

"It is done, Master Peter," Jarvis reassured, leaving the speakers quickly and letting the blaring Heavy Metal. He leaned back, Giovanni still clutched tightly to his chest. The boy nuzzled into him, mumbling nothings into Peter's chest as he slept. Peter snickered but rested his chin on the boys' mop of brown curls.

Peter shifted to move when he realized they were reaching the top floors of the tower, and only three floors away from their main floor, actually.

The doors opened with a ding, and Peter was greeted with the sight of the Avengers, all seated in the living room, the sounds of vines blasting through the speakers loudly as all of them hysterically cackled, Clint and Natasha, leaning against each other, their bodies shaking and the only noise coming from them being wheezing.

"Hey, guys!" Peter greeted, causing the adults to jump, and look at them. They calmed down, and it took a few minutes before anyone could say anything.

"Heh, Err, Hey Petey. Why's the kid passed out? You didn't roofie him, right? Because Peter I swear to God I raised you better than this-" Tony started, but Peter was quick to stop him in his tracks.

"First off, Mr.Stark, I'm too much of a bitch to actually drug someone, you know that. And two, no, He's just really tired and I plan on waking him up to four cups of coffee and a donut." Peter huffed, setting Giovanni down onto a beanbag beside the couch, and he walked over to the kitchen and put a cup of coffee into the machine to process. He sat onto the counter and put his head into his hands.

He didn't know why he acted so protectively around Giovanni like the man was a kid. He tried not to but honestly, he looked too innocent for his own good.  Not to mention the kid was constantly sick and having mixtures of anxiety attacks and asthma attacks.

Peter heard the beep of the coffee maker and grabbed one of Steve's coffee mugs, and made Giovanni his coffee; six spoons of powdered creamer, and four packets of Splenda. Peter remembered Gio telling him that he didn't like the taste of bitter coffee so he drowned it in diabetes. 

"Hey, Pete, your boy's waking up. Might wanna hurry it up on that coffee before he wakes up crabby,"  Tony teased, looking through the fridge for something. 

"Tony!" Pepper yelled, swiftly exiting the elevator, already in stride when the doors opened. Tony winced, and backed away, a container of blueberries in his hands. 

"What's up, Pep?" Tony stuttered, trying to keep his ground as Pepper stomped towards him. Her nostrils flared, and her black folder was held in a vice grip. She reached him and by the time he blinked, she had his collar balled into her fist, and she yanked him down to her height. Peter sat back, the coffee still in hand. 

"Gavin called and said the deal was off! You never attended the meeting! Tony, I told you time and time again, the meeting was at twelve, dammit! It's my fault too, but come on Tony!" Pepper yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Peter laughed but creeped out of the kitchen so the couple could bicker in peace. 

Tony was gonna get his ass whooped. 

- 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a written paper from a website for the paper. I didn't want to take on a topic and sound uneducated.

-

Tony was whimpering pathetically on the couch, his frame balled up in a protective way. His head was In Giovanni's lap, said boy calmly drinking his fifth cup of coffee and the other hand patting Tony's hair gently. He wasn't even looking at the billionaire when he spoke.

    "Boss beat you damn well, huh?" Gio said plainly, getting a groan from Tony.

    "Don't remind me, kid. It wasn't my fault though, so I still feel that beating was undeserved." Tony complained, causing Giovanni to snort.

    "No, Mr.Stark. What you did was entirely your fault, because Ms.Potts informed you many times that you had a meeting, then she left, and you knowingly decided not to attend, leaving you with only the bad outcome." Giovanni said, tugging at a strand of Tony's hair in a scolding manner.

"He's got a point, Mr.Stark," Peter snickered. Tony gasped and whipped his head back so he could see Peter, he was sitting next to Giovanni with his arm wrapped around the boy.

"Traitor!" Tony growled, making Peter laugh. Giovanni ignored them, content on watching The Amazing World of Gumball and sipping on his coffee as the two men bickered, him in between.

-

Peter had heald Tony in a chokehold for two minutes before he got worried and let him go. The billionaire tried to play it off, calling Peter a Wuss, but his throat was bruised, his eyes were red, and his voice cracked constantly.

"Tony you actually look like shit," Giovanni said, taking a small glance at the billionaire, and continuing to stare forward at the TV.

"First of all, ouch, and second, why are you so cold now?" Tony sneered, his eyes narrowing.

"I get either really mean or really blunt when I'm tired," Giovanni mumbled around the rim of the coffee cup, still not making eye contact with the man.

The elevator opened, and in came Clint and Natasha, both of them grim-faced and suits dirty, Natasha's own uniform ripped at her left knee. Clint had less of a sleeve than he usually did, and his bowstring, sadly, was broken.

"Woah, what happened to you two?" Peter said, getting the other two to bring their attention to the SHIELD team, who were now going through Tony's scotch stash that he hid under the sink when Pepper scolded him for having the liquor cabinet out when Peter was over.

"Some tycoon's thugs and Russian assassins, Stark. What else." Clint answered gruffly, while Natasha just kept downing glass after glass.

"They sure gave you guys a run for your money, huh?" Tony said, walking over to the pair and drinking straight from the bottle.

"Mm, you guys should go to the infirmary or something. Dr.Banner at least," Giovanni said, finally setting his coffee cup now and heading over to the bar.

"Nah, we'll be fine," Clint said, poking at a gross looking gash on the lower arm, which was surrounded by a dark blue bruise.

"It looks like that could be infected, Barton. And if it is, there's always a chance that a disease can be contracted, especially in a foreign country," Giovanni said, staring intently at the man. Clint flinched, but Natasha was curious about his last choice of words.

"How are you so sure we were in a foreign country?" Natasha asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. Giovanni, however, just looked her steadily in the eyes.

"I'm not, but my dad's a nurse and growing up around him had its impacts. Also, I took a guess, seeing as your job could require you anywhere around the world." Giovanni said, his gaze sure. Clint, already sold, picked up his scotch glass and walked away.

"Alright, continue guilt-tripping, I've been sold after you mentioned foreign diseases. Not today, sorry. I've got kids to get back to," Clint yells as the elevator doors closed, leaving the four at the bar.

"Have I convinced you, Ms. Romanoff?" Giovanni said, smiling softly at the still stern-faced woman,

"Oh alright, I'll go bother Bruce. But if he complains, you're getting a soft-spoken and crabby scientist trailing behind you for awhile," Natasha drawls, slowly getting up and sauntering away slowly from the three men.

"Well, that went well. Half of me expected you to end up with a broken nose," Peter sighed, letting go of a breath he didn't even realize he was holding in.

Tony and Giovanni laughed lightly, and in a moment of boldness, Giovanni took a swig of scotch. Peter choked, and Tony's eyes went wide but he continued laughing.

Instead of cringing and spitting out the alcohol, Giovanni hummed and furrowed his brows. To Tony and Peter's surprise, he took another swing.

"It's like really strong root beer and a really bad beer combined," Giovanni said, looking up and smiling at the two men.

"What? C'mon guys, My family's from Mexico. I've drunk before," Giovanni laughed, continuing to drink from the bottle.

"Yeah but you're in America, that's illegal," Peter laughed, coming back from where he had gotten up to get a beer. Now all three of them were drinking and having a few laughs. Giovanni got a bit tipsy, but the boy remained clear spoken and his sentences continued to make sense.  
"Well you can certainly handle your alcohol well," Peter laughed, taking a swig from his beer bottle.  
"You'd be surprised. I can hold fourteen shots, bro." Gio laughed, causing Peter to coo.  
"Aww, that's cute. I can hold forty without feeling shit," Peter taunted, causing Gee to pout. Tony laughed, but Peter threw a side look at the man.  
"You can't even take four, Stark. You think time's catching up with you, old man,?" Peter teased Tony,  who snarled at Peter.

"Watch it, kid. I can still take away all of your toys," Tony warned. Peter, feigning fear, much to Giovanni's amusement.

-

Giovanni was typing on his laptop while sitting on the couch of the common floor, the Princess Bride playing on the TV while he worked on his paper, which was about the cost of college. 

'Is it fair to charge one customer a higher price for the same product because they have more money? Most people would say no, just because they earn more money doesn't mean they should have to spend it. This is one of the reasons why it's not right to consider basing college tuition prices on income. Determining how much a student pays for college based on income could give everyone an equal opportunity to go. However, it would create budget issues, unfair pricing and a lack of student motivation. Therefore, college tuition prices should remain the same. 

1.) Setting college tuition prices differently for every person would create budget issues for many schools. 

 

2.) If colleges must make budget cuts it affects what classes or even school a student will choose. 

3.) Budget cuts have definitely put much more pressure on the registration process for all students," says Kalyani Phansalker, a student at The College of William and Mary (Phansalkar).

4.) Students don't need any more stress than they already have, so worrying about the school won't do any good for them or their grades. 

5.) Without as much money as a college would like to have, they would have to cut some classes. 

6.) Citrus College has had to cut its course offerings by fifteen percent this fall (Baumfeld).

7.) With all the budget cuts schools have to turn somewhere to make it up.

8.) Some may say people paying more money would make up for the students paying less.

9.) This is not true though because there are not enough families making enough money to support a college. 

10.) If colleges want to avoid shutting down and cutting class they need to keep tuition prices as they are.

11.) Pricing college tuition differently is unfair in many ways.

 

12.) Naturally, the price of college tuition will rise, but it shouldn't rise more for some people than others. 

13.) A public, two-year college tuition has gone up 7.3 percent since last year and will no doubt continue to rise (College Costs). 

14.) For some families making a higher income doesn't mean they can afford a rise in what it is costing them to pay for college. 

15.) People whose families are wealthier shouldn't have to pay more just because they were smart in their savings and planned ahead. 

16.)  About forty percent of families last year were able to pay for college without borrowing anything....'

Giovanni was still writing his paper when the entire team walked into the common room. They looked tired, but Peter looked amused and Tony just looked pissed off.

"What happened with you guys?" Giovanni questioned, looking up at the adults who just stalked to either the couch or bar. 

"Fury called us in," Peter explained. Gio hissed in understanding, which made Steve and Bruce pause. 

"How do you know who Fury even is?" Steve questioned, his brows furrowed. Giovanni smiled softly. 

"Peter tells me things he probably shouldn't," Giovanni laughed, moving over to the group where Peter, Tony, Steve, and Clint were sitting at the bar. 

"By the way, can you read through my paper to see if it makes sense?" Giovanni asked the boy, who turned the laptop towards him and casually sipped on a can of orange soda as he read. Giovanni leaned on his shoulder and just let his eyes droop slightly. 

"Well, I don't know how I completely forgot how great your writing is, and I really love how heavily factual yet opinionated your work is," Peter laughed, causing Gee to laugh happily. 

"Thank you, Parker." Giovanni hummed, taking his laptop back from the man and continuing to write as the men conversed. Clint watched the kid curiously, sipping on his glass of a strange wine and scotch. 

"So, what's your paper on, cucciolo* ?" Clint asked, surprising Giovanni. The younger boy looked at him funny, which made the archer laugh. 

"Una coppia di acrobati sibling mi ha insegnato italiano quando ho aderito a un circo come un bambino." 

"A pair of sibling acrobats taught me Italian when I joined the circus as a kid," Clint smirked, taking another sip from his cup as the boy settled down a bit. 

"Well, that explains that. I'm working on a paper about how unfair it is to base college tuition on income. My mom died when I was eight, and my dad, while having a reasonable salary, is still struggling to pay it off and I'll be in debt until my late fifties at this rate," Giovanni sighed, tiredly looking back the laptop. The men were somberly quiet, having noticed the shift in mood. 

"Well, it's not like a puppy died, man. Just continue with your banter while I sort out my mental issues," Giovanni urged, rolling his eyes. Peter grinned cheekily. 

"Just like high school then," Peter snickered. Giovanni let out a howl that sounded amused, but so very pained. No one in this tower was ever going to be okay, were they?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know friends I’m not feeling so good

Giovanni was speed walking away from his college, towards Avengers Tower. His class had ended a few minutes ago, but Peter's phone must've died because he hadn't picked up when Gio called him.

He held a caramel frappuccino in his hand and his phone in the other, his thumb scrolling through his calendar. He had a test tomorrow in Behavioral Ecology, a paper due for his Abnormal Psychology class, and he has to speak with his history professor about some questions and little opinions he had on the revolutionary war.

Giovanni hummed and got to the front doors of the tower, only to realize he hadn't gotten an ID badge or clearance to access Mr.Stark's private floors. The boy sighed and held his phone up to his ear as he called Pepper. When she picked up, it was obvious she was stressed.

"What's up, Gio?" Pepper yawned, the scratch of a pen on paper and the movement of file drawers being heard through the speaker.

"I- um, never got an ID badge, and I don't know if I'm in the system yet-" Giovanni laughed, causing Pepper to snort.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry Giovanni. Listen, get me the secretary and I'll tell her to give you your 3-level access pass. That'll get you through the entire building, with the exception of Tony's and mine's floor and his lab." Pepper said. Giovanni obediently walked into the building and headed towards the secretary, who was typing away. Without looking up at him, she spoke.

"Can I help you?" She drawled, still typing. Giovanni still smiled, not even remotely phased.

"Yes, actually. Ms.Potts, the CEO, is on the phone and would like to speak with you," Giovanni chirped, shoving his phone in her face. Said woman's cheeks flushed in panic. The secretary grasped his phone with shaking hands, and her wavering voice spoke into the phone. Immediately, she went back to typing, her head nodding furiously and a chorus of "of course, ma'am," and "right away's" flew from her every three seconds.

In a matter of five minutes, which included Pepper firing off orders, the secretary sweating bullets and Giovanni sipping on his frap smugly. The secretary frantically worked, and when Pepper hung up she sighed. She printed out his ID and gave him a shaky smile.

"Go on through, Mr.Romano," The woman laughed, her eyes scared. Giovanni smiled sweetly and took his phone and ID in his hands. He put on his ID and waved as he went through the scanner.

"Thanks, Lucy," Giovanni taunted as the Elevator doors closed. As soon as they closed, he giggled loudly.

"Welcome back, Mr. Romano," Jarvis greeted, forcing Gio to calm down. He smiled softly at the roof.

"Hey, Jarvis. Erm, straight to the-" Giovanni started, but was interrupted by the AI.

"Common floor, already done, sir," Jarvis said, making Giovanni huff out a laugh. He spooned out some whip cream and vanilla with a plastic spoon he had taken and leaned on the wall. Gio couldn't stand when he had to throw away the remaining whip cream at the end of the cup.

The elevator doors opened, revealing all of the Avengers, minus Peter, at the dining table. Thor was now seated their as well, and they all seemed to be in a comfortable conversation.

"Hey guys," Giovanni greeted. Everybody greeted him back, and Steve took it upon himself to introduce Thor and Gio.

"Thor, this is Giovanni Romano, and Gio, this is Thor Odinson," Giovanni nodded his head at the man, who did so as well.

"A pleasure, son of Romano," Thor said. Giovanni smiled.

"Likewise, your majesty," Giovanni laughed, throwing away his cup and opening the fridge to grab a water bottle.

"Your..not gonna ask where Peter is?" Tony said, his brows furrowing. Giovanni shot him a questioning look.

"I love Peter, but I've got work to do and so does he, Stark," Gio said, his tone highly amused. He sat at the kitchen Island and retrieved his laptop from his satchel. He opened the art program and then dug through his satchel again, and when he found his drawing tablet he connected it and started to work. He pulled up his reference photos and started designing something Tony couldn't recognize.

"What are you doing now, kid?" Tony asked, extremely curious. Giovanni hummed and looked back at him, to find Tony and Thor were now looking at him curiously. His face flushed, and he quickly explained.

"Um, well, it's something for my biology class, and something I originally thought of in Sixth grade I believe. It's a bracelet, a medical one, that administers all kinds of meds. Like Epipen, Ibuprofen, and if serious enough it calls paramedics.

"It can send shocks to the heart in the event that it stops, and it can send warm or cool waves if the person has a fever," Giovanni explained, smiling nervously at the two men. Tony hummed, while Thor laughed loudly.

"A Wondrous idea, young Giovanni," Thor complimented, causing the boy to beam.

"Thank you, Thor," Giovanni said, going back to his sketch of the inner and out design. Giovanni had finished his design and was now listening to oldies as he drafted his presentation.

"Hello world, hello mom," Giovanni muttered, his head bobbing slightly as he scribbled. He had two paragraphs done for the intro, which was riddled with his hilarious jokes, and he was working on how to describe the second slide. Four more to go.

"Hey, guys!" Giovanni heard. He spun around slowly to see Peter walk in, a huge box of what seemed to be a bunch of metal scrap.

"Have you been off dumpster diving again, Peter?" Giovanni teased getting a sheepish smile from the boy.

"Maybe, but it always paid off, right?" Peter laughed, nudging the boy's shoulder. Gio grinned at him, going back to his work. Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede was blasting in his ears and he had finished a standard (read: sucky) paragraph, and was now explaining the outer appearance of the bracelet.

"Hey, isn't this that science project you've been rambling about since freshman year?" Peter asked, leaning onto Giovanni's shoulder as he inspected the drawing. Giovanni nodded rapidly, going back to designing.

    "What you'd get? The loot any good?" Gio asked, peering into the box Peter had set down curiously. Peter shrugged and sifted through random cogs and springs.

    "Sort of, it's kind of mediocre. I found this sweet bag of old phone batteries, which is chill." Peter said, showing Giovanni a Ziploc bag filled with small batteries. Gio hummed and continued to sketch, occasionally glancing up when Peter made to much of a clatter, the hum of conversation behind him relaxing him slightly. When Gee realized he had hit a road bump and couldn't focus, he decided to help Peter with his tinkering, shoving aside the tablet and moving across the kitchen island to watch him work. He smiled when he was that Peter was recreating the little robot-bug he was upgrading in the lab.

    "Why exactly are you going scouring for parts when you have access to Tony Stark's lab?" Giovanni asked, reaching over the island for his satchel, and finding his regular tablet. Peter stopped and shrugged.

    "Habit, I guess. Plus it's pretty relaxing when you have no objective," Peter said, grinning at Giovanni as he worked. Giovanni softly smiled at him but continued going through files. Peter looked over his shoulder, confused.

    "What are you doing?" He asked, reaching over Giovanni to grab his screwdriver. Giovanni glanced up at him briefly before going back to analyzing his tablet screen. 

"I have a job, Pete. I'm organizing Pepper's schedule, and Oh. M.G. This woman has like four meetings today? I'm in awe. I don't know how I let myself forget how damn great Pepper is," Giovanni said, showing Peter the spreadsheet on the screen, which was filled with multiple upon multiple of things to do, only six spots of time empty for the entire week. Peter's eyebrows shot up, and he shivered. 

"Yeah, Pepper isn't someone to be messed with. She's surprisingly put together. and here I am, tinkering and slinging around the city, Oh Jesus I'm going into an existential crisis," Peter moaned, sulking over the metal frame of the nano-bot. 

Giovanni laughed and patted Peter's back in mock sympathy, and walked over to the couch, where now the Avengers where watching Friends. 

"Stark, you've got a meeting at four, and if you miss it and can't assure you your life, Gio sing-songed, Sitting down next to Bruce, who was writing down something in a notebook. Tony scowled. 

"Another one? Jeez, kid. you're killing me here." Tony whined, crossing his arms and staring bitterly at the screen. Giovanni smiled sweetly and continued working. 

Natasha, still confused about this child, decided to not beat around the bush.

"So, are you and Peter, dating?" Natasha asked, causing Giovanni to choke on his own spit in surprise. 

"No, nope. Peter's just really touchy and loud around me. I'm just my bagel, sassy-ass self. When I'm not hyperventilating. " Giovanni explained, his face flushed a bit. 

Peter scurried over, with a ring of paint samples. He skids in front of the TV and smiled happily at all of them. 

"What should I paint my bug boy?" Peter asked, showing the group a little bug that resembled a ladybug. Tony stared at it curiously, while the rest of them suggested colors. 

 

 

"Okay, I'll go one by one. Gio?" Peter asked, gentling giving the device to the boy. Giovanni carefully inspected it, going over color schemes in his head. He hummed before suggesting anything. 

"how about green and brown? Camouflage?" Giovanni suggested, handing the little thing back to Peter, who looked at it before nodding. He turned to Bruce. 

"Erm, how about yellow and blue?" Bruce suggested, shrugging carelessly. Peter pursed his lips but nodded, going over to the others for their opinions. Clint suggested black and purple, Natasha just muttered black, Steve thought blue was a cute color, and Tony wanted to paint the bug red and gold. Peter sighed.

"I mean, Gio's made more sense. Camo it is," Peter said, grinning at the group and scurrying over to the kitchen again, where he ordered Jarvis to find the paints.

Everyone looked at Giovanni, who had rapidly paled.

"You okay kid?" Clint asked, fairly confused at the now very scared looking Gio. Said boy groaned and scrambled back into the kitchen, rummaged through his bag and fumbled with his phone. He quickly dialed in a number and called, bouncing on the balls of his feet. His phone rang, causing him to groan. He had to patch himself to Pepper. He quickly did so, and waited with quickening breaths. 

"Ms.Potts? I'm sorry to interrupt but, where are you?" Giovanni asked, confusing the people in the room once again.

"Er, the thing is, you've got a meeting in twenty minutes with the marketing on Dimm Corp. and I completely forgot," Giovanni said, his eyes welling up. They could hear Pepper laugh.

"Uh, yeah? Okay, Okay. Re-reschedule Tuesday's meeting? Okay yeah I can, can do that. Sure. Yeah, I think. So it's okay now? Really? Eh, yeah? S-switch em'? Alright. Yeah, okay. Bye." Giovanni said, rapidly tapping at the tablet's screen. He set down the phone on the counter and slammed his head down, groaning. Peter laughed.

"That got you wound up, huh? Peter teased, pulling lightly at Gio's hair. He just grumbled and glared at Peter. Giovanni straightened his slumped form and gathered his things, trudged back over to the TV area, and slowly crumpled right in front of the TV, which was playing the theme song for a new episode again. Giovanni groaned but turned over so his face wasn't smashed against the ground.

"So no one told you life was gonna be this gay," Giovanni slurred, clapping along with the song. He heard multiple people choke behind him, and Peter, who had moved over to ask Tony something, laugh.

"Even when stressed out you always find stupid gay quips, huh Gio?" Peter said, kicking the boy's knee playfully. Giovanni stared at Peter a bit before answering.

"No, you," He shot back, grabbing Peter's leg and tripping the boy. Peter yelped and fell backward, landing with a groan. Giovanni laughed. Peter glared at him but chuckled afterward. 

Giovanni just continued to grumble as everyone continued watching Friends. He was so tired.

-


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter, Gio and the team decide they have nothing better to do and play around with makeup. Also, an unexpected interruption makes the evening even more...memorable.

Giovanni was leaning casually against the couch, sitting on the floor of the living room, The Perks of Being a Wallflower laying open on his left. He had read it several times before, but he still found it quite entertaining on a slow day.

The Avengers had been called into another meeting with Fury, Leaving Giovanni alone on the standard floor for the Avengers. So far he had made orange-juice popsicles, ate three of the twelve, and was watching The Power-Puff Girls on Boomerang. His Makeup supplies were strewn all over the floor haphazardly.

In his boredom, Gio decided to do ridiculously outlandish makeup, which he didn't often do. The occasional dark eyeshadow, fake eyelashes, highlighter, and pink gloss, was the most he had ever done before and gone out in public with it on.

Usually, he stuck to Foundation and the like, a clear gloss and a light blush, if he decided to do his makeup, which was generally for acne breakouts.

He had already done his base layers, contour, and his blush. He was working on his eyebrows and was going to move on to eyeshadow once he finished filling in his left eyebrow. He was looking in the medium mirror he had found in the guest bathroom, concentrating on not smudging anything, when the elevator doors opened with the entire team, he merely shifted his eyesight a bit to acknowledge their presence.

"Hey, guys. Who wants to do their makeup with me?" Giovanni grinned, waving his 35B pallet and Rainbow Unicorn horn brushes he had gotten from Justice - when he and Adam decided to go shit-shopping - in the air.

Peter smiled crookedly as he sat down with the others, minus Natasha, who had gone to fetch something. The hero team now circled Gio.

"I didn't know you used makeup," Peter commented lightly, fiddling with the highlight fan brush. Giovanni shrugged.

" I do it mostly for breakouts, but when I'm feeling petty, I do bold makeup and then stay inside all day," The college student laughed, gently tapping some of the white eyeshadow onto his brush and patting it onto his eyelid as a base. The others watched, but Natasha came back with her own makeup, which was mostly nudes and warm Browns. She began applying some primer, conversing softly with Giovanni, who was now blending maroon and a bit of purple into his crease, letting the maroon cover the entire eyelid in the end.

The other males, who sat quietly around them, began getting bored. Tony, however, was determined to try this whole makeup thing.

"Jarvis," He spoke, "Can you order, er- what is that creamy thingy called, kid?" He asked Giovanni, who glanced at him before answering.

"Jarvis, scan their skin tones and order foundation, concealer, more primer, and powder, please," Giovanni said. Tony looked surprised, but he ended up pouting. The kid could've just told him that. But Tony knew he would've just said, "yeah, that," and it would've been the same thing.

Thor, a bit disgruntled at their activities, decided to ask the two who were doing their makeup what exactly they were doing.

"We're doing our makeup, Thor. It's what Most midgaurdian women do. I think your maidens do it as well but at a different level." Giovanni answered, picking up his gold glitter flakes and placing it on his eyelid, shocking the team even more. Natasha smirked.

"How does that make sense-" Peter squeaked, itching to reach out and touch the younger man's eyelid, which was sparkly. Giovanni was now working on his eyeliner, which was more comfortable now that he had saved a specific space from the glitter for it, giving him a perfect outline.

"Well, body glitter is a thing, and I feel petty, so I'm going for an extra look," Giovanni laughed, lining his water line in white and putting a dot of pearl highlight in the inner corner of his eyes. Natasha was applying her blush now. The men around them just stared and occasionally commented on their makeup.

"Sir, the makeup you ordered from Sephora has arrived and is being sent up by the delivery man," Jarvis informed them, a Cheshire-cat-like grin blooming onto Giovanni's face. The Elevator doors opened to reveal a teenage girl in dark makeup, who looked uninterested with the entire situation. Clint got up to take the order from her. He thanked her, and she just shrugged and left. Clint walked back to the group with six striped bags, looking curiously into a few before handing them to Giovanni.

"Alright Nat, you know what to do," Gio said, rustling through the bags and shoving little containers next to their faces and handing them their respective bags, which held a beauty blender, powder, foundation, concealer, primer, and a pre-primer spray. Tony received a red beauty blender, Thor a gold one, Steve had blue, Bruce a purple, and Peter got a lime green one. The men stared at the products, confused.

"Okay. I'll help Tony Thor and Bruce, while Natasha can glam up Peter, Clint, and Steve." Giovanni said, shoving the other two into her circle. Giovanni took all of their foundations and gave them to the men, who were still somewhat confused.

"Alright. You all have some sort of facial hair, and I know how to work around that, thanks to my bear of a best friend. You're going to spray this onto your face, then take this tube and rub it into your face, beard and all. Giovanni said, demonstrating a bit on Thor, who he knew was the one out of the three that was most comfortable with being touched, being a Prince and all.

Tony and Bruce followed, Thor finishing on his own. Giovanni then showed them what foundation was.

"Since all of you have facial hair, you're going to leave your beards alone. Go around it, but it's okay if you get some of it in. Make sure to rub it all over with the blender. I'll tell you if it looks patchy." Giovanni said, doing Thor's forehead for him. The men followed, grunting occasionally, being unused to the sensation of a weird sort of liquid getting smeared over their face.

The boy continued to show them how to put on powder foundation, setting powder under their eyes, and he lent them his eyebrow things for them to use. Their eyebrows were pretty unruly, so he just combed them and filled in what he could.

Giovanni was almost vibrating with excitement once he had finished with the men's contour and blush. They could finally move on to the colorful part! Eyeshadow!

"Okay men, here comes the good part. Pick one to three colors." Giovanni said, shoving his 35B pallet, and his chocolate and peach too face pallets.   
Bruce picked white and a dark brown, Thor a shimmery gold and a darkish purple, and Tony decided on red and pink, which Giovanni had to question slightly. Tony shrugged.

"If you can be petty so can I." The multibillionaire scoffed, closing his right eye so Giovanni could give him an idea as to what to do.

The boy continued to work until he heard a sharp inhale of breath, and standing in the doorway, Pepper stood, desperately holding in her laughter. She turned red quickly and she rushed into the kitchen, where the team could hear muffled snickers.

When Pepper returned, she had wine glasses and scotch glasses but handed Giovanni the entire jug of apple juice, to which the man grinned and thanked her.

Now, The Avengers sat in a circle, their original formations having shifted so the men in the other circles could converse as Natasha and Giovanni did their thing. Pepper sat next to Thor and gave out pointers when the newbies needed them. They were all drinking, their whine and scotch glasses constantly filled to the brim. Giovanni occasionally took swigs from his apple juice jug.

"So, what kind of look are they going for, /Bagel/?" Pepper asked, sipping calmly on her wine. Giovanni took a few seconds before answering, finishing Bruce's eye and leaving him to do the second one.

"Well /mom/, Tony's eye is more tiger-like, so his look is the fiercest. Thor's is surprisingly elegant with the right amount of shimmer shadow, and Bruce's is warm and business-like, which I personally enjoy on calm days myself. I decided not to be crusty today, so I went for over the top," Giovanni grinned at the end, helping Thor with his eyeliner. Pepper smiled gently.

"You're doing great sweety. What about you, Natasha? What are your boys doing?" Pepper asked the female spy, who now had a smokey cat eye and a bold red lip. Natasha's lips thinned a bit as she thought of an answer.   
"Peter's looking quite promising, he knew how to do most things without my help, Cap is doing okay, as good as you would expect a man who's never even fathomed the thought of makeup, and Clint's just, being Clint," Natasha said, and Clint looked up. The man-child had falsies on, rainbow eyeshadow, blue mascara, and holographic lip.

Giovanni laughed loudly and gave Clint a proud head pat, snorting when the archer purred mockingly.

Tony shouted in triumph when he managed to put on his eyelashes by himself, and Giovanni examined them.

"Well done Tony. Now you have to do lips. I suggest a Kylie lip kit or you could do a Matte lip and put a clear gloss over it. Choose a color and then if you need help, ask," Gio said, pushing over twenty boxes of lip kits and twelve loose lipsticks and glosses. Peter looked at Giovanni's satchel and back at the mess surrounding them, and his brows furrowed.

" Wait, how did you get all of this stuff, Ophee? I mean, your satchel couldn't have held all of this," Peter pointed out, calling Giovanni a name he hadn't heard in a while. He purses his lips before answering.

"I walked home. You guys were gone for three hours. It only took a few minutes. People looked at me weirdly but I told one group who asked that I wasn't helping Pepper get read for a party Mr.Stark and mom were attending, and they left me alone after that." Giovanni said, chugging another cup worths of apple juice from the container.

"Wait, Ophee? What's Ophee? Why is the kid suddenly Ophee? I'm confused??" Clint said, staring expectantly at Peter and Giovanni. Peter answered him, but it took a while. Giovanni was helping Peter put on the Kandy lip kit.

"Mm, Gee's a Drama- kid. He was the lead in a play, about, mm, Orphans, and the kid's name was- Oliver, but the younger ones called him Ophee- because his middle, the name is Phineas." Peter explained, randomly pausing when Giovanni grunted in irritation.

"I was great in that by the way. Oof, Broadway here I come-" Giovanni laughed, finishing Peter's look. The man had a blue base smoked upwards and a shimmery maroon color on his eyelid with a soft highlighter and intense contour. Peter grinned at him and plopped onto the couch, drinking a bit from his scotch.

Bruce had finished with his small winged eyeliner and was being helped by Pepper to put on false eyelashes. Thor was being helped by Natasha to put in the highlighter. Tony was putting on a dark blue Matte lip kit, and applying gloss over it.

Pepper was scribbling in her book silently, but she seems less stressed than usual. Peter and Clint were giggling at jokes they were shooting back and forth, Natasha was still explaining a few things to Steve, and Giovanni's group was arguing over different shades of blue and red and swatching on their wrists. Thor was arguing for a lighter pink for Bruce's lip, but Tony preferred a dark mahogany color to match his eyes.

"Romano, what do you think of the color?" Thor asked, showing Giovanni the two swatches on his wrist. Giovanni hummed.

"I think the mahogany would be better. But you can add a clear gloss to make it less Matte like. You're on the right track, Thor, but makeup also has to make the person feel comfortable, and I think Banner would prefer darker tones." Giovanni reassured, giving Bruce the brown lip kit and clear gloss.

Thor pouted, but he let up and was calmly bantering with Tony and the others. Natasha was casually conversing with Pepper, and the men had a strangely confident glow that wasn't present before, which made the woman fairly amused, to say the least.

He and Peter were conversing causally when Jarvis spoke up.

"Giovanni, your father has called to inform you that your grandmother has passed away. He is requesting access to the upper private floors," Jarvis said, sounding as somber and downcast as a robot could.

The room quieted, and Giovanni's throat tightened, his eyes watering.

"Let him up, Jarvis," Giovanni gasped, picking up his things and shoving back into his boxes, scrambling for something to do as big tears ran down his face, his lower lip quivering. Peter helped him silently, as did the others.

When the elevator doors opened, out stepped a tan, middle-aged man. He looked exactly like Giovanni, with grey around the temples and laugh lines more prominent. He was wearing his doctors' coat, and his eyes were glassy, red and swollen. Giovanni crashed into him, stumbling into a hug, and Peter nodded in hello, leading them back into the elevator with Giovanni's things. Giovanni sniffled and hugged Peter before leaving with his father, letting out a heart-breaking wail just as the doors closed.

Peter was left with a gloomy team, and some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent the day in San Diego today. It was chill. Anyway, I wrote throughout the entirety of the trip. all offline with no Grammarly so oops for any bad stuffs. I was tired when I killed poor abuela, but meh what's done is done I'm not changing it.


End file.
